While she treats her dog like her “daughter” and showers it with attention, it seems that the same level of care is not extended to the cat. As someone who has never owned a cat, I believe that providing a cat tree to prevent the cat from damaging furniture, along with some toys and daily access to fresh water, would significantly improve the cat’s quality of life. Additionally, since the cat enjoys exploring the forest, having a safe space to play and roam is essential.
Today, with temperatures soaring to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), she told the cat, “You won’t have wet food; we have to limit it because supplies run out too quickly.” At the same time, she did not provide any water. When I inquired about this, she mentioned that the cat could drink from the dog’s bowl if it wanted. I expressed my concern that sharing a water bowl could expose the cat to different bacteria and microflora, but this upset her. When I pointed out that not providing water could be considered a form of neglect, she responded that she didn’t want to hear it in her house.
On another occasion, she became frustrated when the cat refused to eat the wet food she offered. In response, she told the cat, as if it could understand, “Now you won’t have any wet food; the bowl will be empty. You have dry food, so eat that.” She even instructed us not to give the cat any wet food as a form of punishment.
I am currently confined to the house for the next month due to an injury, and she is my stepmother. Her decision to adopt a cat seems to stem from a desire to alleviate her dog’s loneliness, which is understandable. However, I question whether simply providing food and allowing the cat to explore the forest for a couple of hours is sufficient for its well-being.
I feel quite uneasy when that happens, but in the same time I’m in a lost position, because I don’t own animals, so “why should anyone bother about my opinion?”.
I hate debating with her about anything, because when I question her beliefs, the atmosphere gets tense, she increases the tone and I’m pretty tired of it
Gah, honestly I’m not surprised at all she’s like that, she sounds exactly like the type.
OP may need to find some clever ways to disguise their advice.
Like feeding the cat soaked dry food as “punishment” for not eating the expensive dry food, so that step-mom at least still hydrates the cat.
Get some roast turkey from the deli counter (Boar’s Head all natural preferred, but just dont get any heavily seasoned kind), sliced as thin as possible, and sneak him a little bit every now and then. Hopefully she wont think much of it sitting in the fridge, and you can even make yourself a sandwich with it once while shes around so she really doesnt suspect anything.
My cats love their daily turkey, and it keeps them from overeating the dryfood that I free-feed them. They only eat the dry food when hungry cause they know they get their “kitten chicken” every morning 😺
Watch out for sodium levels with this, deli anything usually has elevated levels of sodium which can be devastating in cats
If OP’s not from the US, turkey might not be an option – it’s not very common in a lot of places here in Europe for example.
Might be an option to just buy cat food (after they recover from their injury) and hide it in their room if the stepmom is that controlling
Chicken is fine too.